Way of the Ninja - A New Companion
by Fireblazezz
Summary: Ok, so this is like a story that highlights Naruto and his friends' adventure and their path to great shinobi, just that I've added my made-up original character to the story. And I might add and delete some scenes of the Naruto series, and don't expect too much of this, because I'm a total newbie, so please feel free to point out mistakes and help me get on with this story :)
1. The Stranger

You might want to read my doc "Yami and the Yorutsuki Clan" for more information about the new character that will appear in this story.

And I don't own anything except her!

Feel free to point out mistakes :)

* * *

The Stranger

* * *

Naruto was kind of _very _shocked.

Just when he thought that they'd defeated the two ugly, bandage-faced ninjas that'd attacked them, they rose again, and he was pretty sure that someone would have died if not that girl had appeared out of nowhere. She'd landed a full-power kick right into one of the attackers' back, preventing him from attacking them.

And now they were standing side by side, fighting to take them down.

Naruto observed the stranger girl in haste; She was about their height, and judging by her appearance and voice, she was about their age too. She had dark midnight blue eyes and jet black hair that she wore in a high ponytail, and bangs were framing both sides of her face. She wore a sleeveless, black top, black shorts with two lapels on the front and the back, black boots and black arm-warmers; seriously, what was up with her and black? It looked kinda cute, though.. it really fit her.

"Sakura, stay back and protect Tazuna." Sasuke ordered loudly.

Sakura looked startled, but she gripped her kunai tightly and positioned herself in front of the old man they were supposed to escort.

"And Naruto, don't just lie there, get up!" he hissed at Naruto, who was sitting on the ground, holding his gashed hand. "And you.." Sasuke continued, turning to the raven-haired stranger. "If you want to get out of this alive, you'd better give us a hand."

The girl looked at him. "I just saved your life, so I'd be grateful if you didn't use that tone." She retorted.

Sasuke snorted. "Well then, back me up against them."

And the two set off in opposite directions, darting through the air, then met up and clashed on opposite sides of one of the attackers, blocking his escape route and doing damage at the same time.

The enemy barely avoided fatal injury; he was a Chuunin, after all.

The two ninjas threw a dozen kunai at once, and Sasuke and the girl was forced to pull back.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed. "_Naruto! _Get up! Sasuke-kun might get hurt!"

But Naruto seemed to be petrified; these were _Chuunin ninjas!_ They were fighting to the death, their lives were on the line..

And Sasuke charged at the enemy, using shuriken as decoys. The enemy dodged them easily, jumping up in the air, when the girl took off as well and launched shuriken at him.

The battle went on, until when the enemy charged at Sakura and Tazuna, Sasuke shielded them, and then Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and took down the enemy, tied them tightly together and imprisoned them.

"I'm sorry I took so long." He apologized. "But I had to find out who they were after." And with a glance at Tazuna, he turned to Sasuke, Sakura and the stranger girl, smiling.

"You did a great job protecting your friends, Sasuke." He praised. "And you too, Sakura."

Then he turned to the girl.

"You have our utmost gratitude for helping us." He said gently. "If you hadn't shown up in that moment, someone probably would've gotten hurt."

The girl smiled in return.

"And that is absolutely not thanks to you." Sasuke pointed out sarcastically.

"Eheheh.. Sorry about that.." Kakashi laughed nervously and scratched his head. Then he turned to Naruto with a serious look on his face.

"Sorry, Naruto. If I'd been quicker, you might not have gotten hurt." He said. "But I really didn't think you were that slow."

Kakashi's words felt like stabs from a knife, and they hurt even more than the gash in Naruto's hand. He bit his lip to hold back his emotions.

And then Kakashi and Tazuna started the discussion – or rather inerrogation – about whether their pursuers' target was them, or Tazuna.

That's when he noted that, whatever the case, they would have to turn back and see to Naruto's poisoned hand anyway.

_That _was crossing the limit.

Naruto took out his kunai, and by impulse, he stabbed himself in his hand, causing the blood to flow in every direction.

Everyone turned to stare at him, and Sakura cried out in horror. "Naruto! What the heck are you _doing?!"_

Tazuna glared and gasped, Kakashi frowned, and the girl simply looked shocked.

"There's no need to turn around.." Naruto said through clenched teeth. "We will finish our mission and escort the old man back home."

He shut his eyes in determination.

"And I promise, by the pain in this hand…" he continued. "I will never step down from a challenge!"

* * *

The girl stared at the short, blond boy in shock. He _stabbed _himself. He stabbed himself to cause the poison to leave his body, and thereby enabled his friends to carry on with their mission.

She was shocked. Utterly shocked. She'd never met anyone with that kind of determination. A few minutes ago, he'd been sitting motionless on the ground, obviously terrified, and now he was pulling his kunai out of a wound he created himself, for another person's sake.

The girl wouldn't stop staring. She swallowed hard. Now the blond boy was suddenly looking terrified as his sensei was examining his wound with a serious look on his face, stating that he might die from loosing too much blood.

"K-Kakashi-s-sensei.. I-is it d-danger-rous..? Y-you have s-such a-a serious l-look on your f-face.." he stammered, loosing all colour in his face.

Odd person… A really odd person.

* * *

"K-Kakashi-sensei, I-I don't w-wanna die..!" Naruto stammered as he stared down at his bleeding hand.

Kakashi looked up, smiling.

"Relax, you won't die." He assured him and wrapped bandage around his hand, though he knew that the Nine Tails' power was already healing him. "This will do." He simply said, then stood up.

And suddenly, Naruto regained full energy, sniggered and then exclaimed; "_Okay, everyone! _Let's head to the Country of the Wave!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and started scolding him for yelling so darn loud. Sasuke kept the cool expression on his face and simply turned his back on the others. Kakashi smiled, and Tazuna simply looked startled.

".. You're going to the Country of the Wave?" the girl suddenly asked, and everyone turned to her.

She shifted uncomfortably under their gaze for a while, and then straightened herself.

"I know a somewhat safer path there. I can follow you, if you want too.." she said. "And maybe help you to protect the old man from some enemies."

"Eh?" Naruto blinked.

"That would be great." Kakashi answered. "We could really use your help."

"Another kid..?" Tazuna murmured to himself.

Sakura looked happy, and Sasuke showed no reaction.

"As long as she won't get in the way." He simply said.

And Naruto looked thrilled.

"Eh? We're getting another teammate? Great!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I'm Naruto, and I'm going to become the Hokage one day." He presented himself. He pointed at Sakura. "This is Sakura-chan, and she's really smart, but watch out, cuz she can get really pissed and hit you." He continued, sounding clever.

"_Naruto..!"_ Sakura raised a fist at him, and he immediately took back his words.

"Nice to meet you!" Sakura said happily to the girl, who waved her hand awkwardly.

"And that is Kakashi-sensei." He said, pointing at Kakashi. "I know he looks kinda lame and lazy, and he's got an even lazier attitude, and he's pretty nonchalant and casual, but he's really a cool ninja."

The girl glanced at their sensei; he looked utterly offended.

"And _that_" Naruto muttered, pointing at Sasuke. "is Sasuke. He's a stupid moron who thinks he's the best, but I'm better, ya know." He continued, before turning his back grumpily on Sasuke, who simply snorted.

"So, you should follow my lead and learn from me." Naruto said, grinning.

The girl couldn't help but smile back.

"My name's Chihiro Yami." She said. "I'm not from any Hidden Village, so I don't know if I count as a ninja.." she looked away momentarily. "But I wouldn't say that I'm completely clueless when it comes to shinobi techniques."

It was impossible to read Kakashi's expression, Sakura just smiled, and Naruto didn't seem to really care where she came from or who she was.

"Alright! Yami, huh? Welcome to the gang!" he laughed and did a thumbs-up.

Yami grinned. "Thanks."

And with that, they continued.

But of course, they couldn't help but to ask questions.

"So, if you're not from a village… where are you from?" Sakura asked.

"I've been… travelling."

"How come you know ninja moves if you're not a ninja?"

"A long time ago I was trained as a shinobi."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"_Ooh! _She's like us!" Sakura giggled.

"How tall are you?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, that's a silly question." Sakura said.

"How much do you weigh—?"

"SHUT UP!" Sakura hit him right on in his face, causing him to fly backwards into a tree.

"_S-Saku..ra-chan..!" _he whimpered weakly.

"Sorry about that." Sakura sighed. "He's a complete idiot, and he knows nothing about manners."

"Aha.." Yami said, glancing at the staggering Naruto, whose face was all swollen.

"So, it's necessary to punch him sometimes." Sakura continued.

Yami nodded slowly.

"So.." Sakura leaned closer. "Do you think my forehead is… wide..?"

"And you're accusing _me _for asking silly questions..?" Naruto murmured while standing up with the help of the tree, and Sakura shot him a nasty look.

"Uuh.. It looks like a normal forehead to me." Yami answered.

Sakura lightened up.

"Really?! Oh, thank you! You're the first one who's ever said that to me!"

"You're only gonna scare her off if you keep asking questions like that." Sasuke said calmly without turning to watch them.

This made Sakura giggle nervously.

"Oh, but, Sasuke-kun… we… we just want to know a little more about her.."

"Yeah, and why do _you _get to decide what questions are stupid?" Naruto shot in.

"Naruto! Don't use that tone to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura barked.

"But, Sakura-chan..!"

Kakashi chuckled nervously as he walked behind them.

"Well, my students might be a little eager to talk all the time.."

Yami looked at him with a pleased look on her face.

"I find them amusing." She answered.

"For now." Sasuke said.

Yami giggled as an answer.


	2. The Demon of Kirigakure

This is the second chapter of Vol/Part 1 of "Way of the Ninja", and note that I'm not very good at checking the actual storyline, which means I might've mixed up a couple of scenes and made them say wrong things, but I hope you'll like it anyway :D Please review!

* * *

The Demon of Kirigakure

* * *

They drifted quietly across the water in the motorboat. Kaji, the owner of the boat, had suddenly turned off the motor – to their confusion -, and now he was paddling them forward.

After a while, Sakura broke the silence.

"This mist is really thick." She pointed out. "I can barely see your faces."

"Yeah." Yami said, staring into the mist.

And then there was silence.

* * *

Yami was not sure if she'd made the right choice.

Was it wise to follow these people? Why did she even come to the conclusion in the first place?

She glanced at Naruto. It must've been him. She thought of his words:

"_There's no need to turn around…"_

"_We will finish our mission and escort the old man back home."_

"I promise, by the pain in this hand… I will never step down from a challenge!"

Yami stared quietly down into her reflection in the water and reviewed her options.

She'd already showed them the path. It was behind them now. She could leave them anytime she wanted. But still…

"Yami, is something wrong?" Naruto interrupted her thoughts.

She turned to watch him, considering what to answer.

Sakura and Sasuke were looking at her now too. Yami got temporarily confused about their concern.

"No." she said, smiling. "Everything's fine. Thanks."

Naruto and Sakura happily returned her smile, untroubled and unknowing. Yami looked back into the mist without withdrawing her smile.

She would stay and help them. At least until they had finished their mission.

* * *

"We will soon reach the bridge that leads to the Country of the Wave." Kaji said after a while.

And just as he spoke, Yami could have sworn that she saw the shade of something big, deep in the mist. She narrowed her eyes.

"Look!" she said, pointing forward.

Naruto and Sakura turned around, and despite the thick mist they could still make out the great bridge that was extending across the lake.

Sakura gasped in admiration, and Naruto gripped the railing so he would be able to lean forward without falling into the water.

"Wow! It's _huge!_" he exclaimed.

"H-hey, _be quiet!" _Kaji hissed at him. "We're able to sneak in thanks to the thick mist… that's why I turned off the motor." He added, and scanned the area with a concerned look on his face.

Naruto clapped his hands to his mouth, puzzled, and Sakura looked nervous and confused. Yami and Sasuke had turned to watch Tazuna, looking rather questioningly.

"Who mustn't see us arrive..?" Yami asked quietly.

Neither Tazuna nor Kaji answered.

Kakashi turned to watch Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san.." he said. Tazuna didn't move. "Before we reach land I need you to be honest with me."

Tazuna didn't answer, but simply looked ahead.

"Who was it that arranged the attack before? And for what purpose?" Kakashi continued. "If you're not honest with me, we'll call off the mission as soon as we reach land."

Silence.

But after a while, Tazuna sighed, cowed, and finally faced Kakashi and the others.

"Very well. I think it might be time to tell you the truth." He said. "I wanted to tell you earlier…"

And Tazuna explained about Gato and the great bridge, and why Gato wanted to eliminate him.

"I see." Sakura said when Tazuna'd finished.

"So that's why he wants to eliminate you." Yami said.

Sasuke didn't comment, and Naruto apparently didn't understand anything, but at least he tried to pretend that he did.

"I still don't understand." Kakashi said. "If you needed to be protected from this man, then why were you keeping it a secret from us?"

Tazuna looked ahead with an expressionless look on his face.

"The Country of the Wave is a very poor country. Even our daimyos are weakened economically." He said. "I have no money. I cannot afford anything more than a C-Rank mission."

Silence.

"And if you abandon me by the shore, then I will be killed for sure." Tazuna continued. "I probably won't even make it home, but that's no problem."

He sighed dramatically.

"No one will probably miss me, except perhaps my little grandson who will cry and cry and cry and cry." He went on.

"Eh…!" Naruto, Yami, Sakura and Sasuke didn't know what to answer.

"Oh, and my daughter's heart will be filled with hatred against Konoha, and her life will be miserable, but that's not your problem anymore." He said with a laugh.

Sakura looked down at her feet, Naruto's eyes shaped into those lines that made him look like a fox, Yami sighed and Sasuke looked extremely bothered; the act was obvious.

"Well, then, I guess we have no choice but to keep protecting you." Kakashi finally said after a while, chuckling nervously.

"Oh! That'd be nice." Tazuna said approvingly. _Bullseye, _he thought for himself.

A while later they reached the shore.

"I must leave you here." Kaji said and started struggling with the motor.

"Thanks a lot, Kaji." Tazuna said.

"Good luck and be careful." Kaji managed to start the motor and left them.

Tazuna turned to Naruto and the others.

"Ok, please escort me home." He said with a grin.

"Sure.." Kakashi answered, and they started walking towards the road that led into the forest, and would eventually lead them to Tazuna's hometown.

* * *

Naruto constantly shot disapproving looks at Sasuke.

He had showed off _way _too much during their battle against the ugly bandage-brothers. Naruto clenched his fists; He definitely wouldn't allow himself to be outshined by him. It was _his _turn to shine.

And he stopped so suddenly that Yami almost walked into his back.

"_Wait!" _he cried out and threw a shuriken, targeting something invisible a few meters in front of them. Kakashi, Sasuke, Yami, Tazuna and Sakura stopped at once, petrified. Naruto then pattered to the spot where the shuriken had hit the ground, and he pretended to examine it. After a while he turned to the others – who were struck by his sudden impulse – and laughed indifferently.

"It's okay, it was just a rat." Naruto assured them casually, waving them forward.

Kakashi sighed deeply.

"No, it was no rat!" Sakura shouted furiously at him. "You were just showing off because you wanted our attention!"

And Tazuna almost exploded with rage.

"_Brat! _Don't scare us like that! I almost had a heart attack, for goodness sake!" he bellowed.

"Jeez… Lumpish moron." Sasuke muttered to himself and looked annoyed.

"Naruto, there's really no need for you to—" Kakashi began, but Naruto's yell interrupted him.

"THERE!" He exclaimed, and threw a second shuriken into the forest beside the road.

Sakura's face turned tomato-red, and she gripped Naruto's collar and tried to strangle him, yelling and barking with rage.

"_Naruto, you idiot! _Stop doing that!"

"Gwah, S-Sakura-chan, you're choking me..!" Naruto gasped as he struggled to release himself. "And I promise, someone has been stalking us..! It's true, I know it..!"

"Yeah, like we'd believe that!"

And while Sakura continued to bark at Naruto, Yami walked off of the road and to the tree that Naruto's shuriken was stuck in. What she saw made her temporarily confused. "Err.." she cleared her throat.

"… Naruto.. it might not have been a _ninja_.." she said, turning to the others. "But I think you were about to strike something else."

She pointed at the paralysed white rabbit that was trembling a few inches beneath the sharp edge of the shuriken.

Sakura squealed in terror.

"_Naruto! Look what you've done!" _

And Naruto scurried to the rabbit, stammering with guilt.

"Sorry, little fellow..! I-I didn't know..!" he apologized repeatedly, patting the terrified little animal awkwardly on the head.

"A rabbit." Tazuna said, as if to clarify the situation.

* * *

"A snow rabbit." Kakashi said. Then he fell deep in thought. _Why does the snow rabbit look like that when it's not even winter?_

He looked around, relaxed but serious.

_It must've been raised indoors. Which means.. _He narrowed his eyes slightly, …_ It was used as bait… and the one who used it is close._

* * *

"I'm so sorry, little buddy, I'm so sorry..!" Naruto said over and over again. "Please forgi—"

"Everyone, _duck!" _Kakashi shouted, and Naruto's body reacted before his mind did, and he threw himself on the ground, and the rabbit ran off. And the next moment, a colossal sword spun over them, inches from their heads, and into a tree. And when they looked up, a ninja was standing on the handle of the sword with his back towards them. He turned his head and observed them with a cool expression.

_Creep, _Naruto thought.

Recognition flickered in Kakashi's eyes.

"Oh." He said quietly to himself. "It's him."

Naruto rose quickly and positioned himself to fight, full of excitement. He wasn't going to let Sasuke outshine him this time. _He _was going to take care of this ninja, not Sasuke.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure, Momochi Zabuza?" Kakashi said loudly, taking a few steps closer.

Naruto hesitated. Rogue Ninja? Oh, nevermind, it didn't matter, he was going to take him down, and that's the end of it.

_Ok, 3, 2, 1…!_

"Wait." Kakashi's hand stopped him. "Stay away and don't get involved."

Naruto stared at his hand, then pushed it away, offended. "What?! Why?" he demanded.

"This one is greater and mightier than the previous two." Kakashi answered without taking his eyes from the Rogue Ninja. "Back off."

"But—"

"Now."

Naruto was angry, but he took a few steps back.

And to everyone's surprise, Kakashi suddenly moved his hand to his forehead protector. Was he going to…?

"I recognize you." Zabuza suddenly spoke. "You're Sharingan Kakashi. The Copy Ninja."

Sasuke winced at the word 'Sharingan' and spun to look at Kakashi. Yami stared at him as well. _'Sharingan _Kakashi'? She frowned, clearly puzzled.

"Sorry, but I need the old geezer over there." Zabuza continued while gazing down at them.

The atmosphere seemed to intensify.

" 'Sharingan'? What is that?" Naruto asked, bewildered.

"Naruto. Sasuke. Yami. Sakura. Protect Tazuna. Don't interfere." Kakashi ordered.

The four young ninjas obeyed immediately and positioned themselves in Manji battle formation. And at the same time, Kakashi moved his forehead protector and revealed his left eye.

Sasuke let out a faint gasp, and Naruto stared.

Kakashi's Sharingan scanned the area and seemed to pierce everything in its path.

"Wh-what kind of eye is that..?" Naruto murmured to himself.

Yami's frown grew deeper, and her thoughts seemed to be travelling far away from the current situation. Her eyes betrayed confusion, suspiciousness, nervousness and recognition.

* * *

Sasuke had started to sweat; How could Kakashi posses the Sharingan when he was not an Uchiha? That wasn't possible… Something fishy was going on here. He'd never ever heard about anyone that wielded the Sharingan without being from the clan.

Sasuke tried to figure this whole thing out, but he was brought back to reality when the Rogue Ninja, Zabuza, spoke.

"I've heard a lot about your Sharingan. And I must say it's a real honour to see it with my own eyes."

"Everyone keeps talking about that Sharingan, Sharingan all the time!" Naruto blurted out. "What _is _that?!"

That stupid idiot was so clueless…

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke.

"Sharingan… a power emanating from the eye's pupil. It enables the user to see through ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu techniques that are used against them." He explained, and Naruto stared at him, obviously surprised that he was able to answer. He felt Yami's and Sakura's eyes piercing him as well.

"But that's not all…" he continued.

"That's right." Zabuza said. "Not only are your opponents techniques seen through… you'll also be able to copy them."

Sasuke swallowed hard.

"When I was in the Kirigakure's assassination group I had a bingo book where your name was listed." Zabuza continued. "It also said that you've copied more than one thousand techniques, as the Copy Ninja Kakashi."

Sasuke glanced at his sensei.

So Kakashi was really a great ninja, after all…

For some reason, this angered Sasuke. He clenched his fists.

How was this possible? Kakashi was from the Hatake clan, not the Uchiha…

"Enough talking." Zabuza said calmly but determined. His eyes flickered across them with a creepy glare, observing them carefully.

"I have to hurry up and kill the geezer."

Naruto glared back at him.

"Like we're gonna let you do that!" he snarled at him.

Naruto was an idiot, but he was right; Tazuna was important to their mission and this country, and they couldn't let him die.

Sasuke, Yami, Naruto and Sakura moved in closer to Tazuna.

"But I suppose I'll have to defeat you first, Kakashi." Zabuza continued, staring down at his opponent. "And your cute minions." He added as he cast a glance at Naruto and his friends' battle formation.

And the next moment he was no longer standing at the handle, and the sword was no longer in the tree.

Sasuke looked around. Where did he go?

"There!" Sakura was pointing at the river.

And there he was, standing _on top of the water, _forming some kind of seal. Water was circulating around him.

He was staring at Kakashi, and Kakashi was staring back; it was like if the rest of them were a couple of minor characters, and in the world between the two elite ninjas' gazes, only the other existed.

Sasuke's heart was pounding rapidly in his chest; the tension between the two Jounins was causing him to panic. He closed his eyes, but it was no use. It felt like he was torn apart from the inside..

"Sasuke."

Sasuke opened his eyes, breathing fast. Kakashi just spoke.

"Don't worry, Sasuke." He said, turning to watch his student with a reassuring smile on his face. "I won't let my comrades die from me."

* * *

Kakashi's words struck Yami, and for a moment she was caught off guard.

Comrades…

She bit her lip. It'd been a long time since she'd heard that word. She glanced at Sasuke who seemed to have a panic attack, but he looked like he was calming down now.

Yami glanced at the others too; Naruto seemed fully prepared to battle, Sakura looked tense but determined, and Tazuna probably felt like he was the targeted cheese, and Zabuza was the greedy rat, and the rest of them were the mice that were supposed to guard him.

Yami suddenly noticed that the place was getting foggy. She turned to Zabuza, and then it made sense; he'd summoned a veil of mist.

Which was not good. Not for them.

"We should stick together." She said to the others, though she figured that they'd probably already come to the conclusion themselves.

And the next moment, Kakashi and Zabuza had started fighting. Zabuza lunged himself forward, preparing to slice them all with his giant sword, and Kakashi raced toward them and stabbed Zabuza with his kunai just in time, but then it appeared to be a Water Clone, and Kakashi was sliced in half.

Yami and the others let out a gasp of shock, before they realized that Kakashi too had used a clone, and appeared behind Zabuza, catching him off guard, and held a kunai to his throat.

But Zabuza got away, and the fight continued, and somehow Kakashi ended up thrown into the river, and for a split second, Yami thought that he might not surface again.

But when he did – they were relieved – water rose around him, imprisoning him a cage made of water.

Moments of shock, before they realized what just happened.

"_Kakashi-sensei!" _Naruto yelled.

Zabuza appeared in front of the water cage, and the part of where his mouth was hidden behind the bandage shaped a mean grin.

"You won't be able to get out of that, Kakashi. It was foolish of you to jump into the water." He added. He then turned to Yami and the others.

"So…" he continued quietly. "Maybe I should take care of the geezer now?"

"_No!" _Kakashi exclaimed from inside the water cage. "You must flee, quickly!" he shouted to them. "Zabuza can't move from here as long as I'm in this cage!"

"That may be true…" Zabuza continued. "But I can still use my Water Clones."

"Don't worry, they can't follow you for that long!" Kakashi shouted. "They will disappear as soon as you've reached a point that is far enough away from Zabuza."

He made it sound like an easy thing.

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed. "We're not gonna leave you behind, Kakashi-sensei!"

"That's right." Sasuke agreed. "We'll fight."

* * *

Naruto was trembling, he knew it.

They could not win this. Not when Kakashi was caught. But just when he was about to flee, the pain in his hand stopped him.

Naruto swallowed hard. That's right… he made a vow.

Of course they couldn't leave Kakashi behind.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to think (wow.)

He glared at his forehead protector that Zabuza had stolen at some point. And to everyone's shock, he raced forward, grabbed on to the forehead protector before he was kicked back by Zabuza.

"Naruto!" Yami exclaimed. "What are you…?" she trailed off when she noticed Naruto was holding his forehead protector.

"… Naruto…" she said quietly. "You… you went for the…?"

And Naruto wiped the blood from his face and stood up.

"Huh?" Zabuza watched him. "You're not going to run away?"

"I made a vow to never step down from a battle and never run away…" Naruto replied, glaring back at Zabuza. "And I never go back on my word. That is my way of the ninja."

Yami glared at him as if she'd never seen him before.

His determination… His words had struck her like lightning. She wondered what made him so confident in himself.

Unlike everyone Yami'd ever known, he was… well, he was different. In so many ways…

And it seemed like Zabuza was slightly impressed as well. And Sakura and Kakashi too. Even Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Yami!" Naruto called. "I've got a plan."

Sasuke and Yami looked surprised. Naruto managed to come up with a plan in this situation?

But they nodded, and prepared themselves for whatever Naruto had planned.

"Let's do it."


End file.
